The Rainmaker
by fscomeau
Summary: It has been weeks since it has last rained and all the ponies are getting extremely thirsty. The pegasus cannot find a single cloud in the sky, the unicorns' magic is powerless and even Celestia cannot explain where all the water has gone. Twilight Sparke, along with her friends, is charged with the delicate and difficult mission to meet The Rainmaker. New chapter every Wednesday.
1. Chapter 1

It had been weeks since it had last rained, and Derpy was getting thirsty.

Every day, it seemed ponies had to go further and further to bring back whatever water they could scrounge. The water had been since long rationed, the rivers were almost completely dry and the lakes were giving their last few gallons. The sun, incredibly strong at this period of the year, had desiccated even the biggest ponds; only the ocean and the seas remained, their levels much lower than usual, their water undrinkable and unusable.

Amongst the incredible heat and thirst – spots in the shadows were highly coveted – one question was repeated from Ponyville to Canterlot: where did all the water go?

It wasn't in the sky, that was for sure: all the clouds were gone. And it wasn't in the ground neither: the ground was completely arid, slowly turning to a desert. In recent days, the situation had gotten even worse and water was now reserved to the weakest: sick or injured ponies, elders, fillies and foals. Very soon, only water hidden deep in caverns and underground tunnels would offer drinkable water and every drop would be valuable.

It was a shame, really. The last months had been going so well for Derpy: slowly, she was discovering the magic of friendship for herself and she was growing closer and closer to her friends. If Derpy had to resume the situation in one word, or rather two, it would have been "less clumsy." Derpy Hooves was getting more skilled, more careful and more deft: the sad incident that had cost Ponyville its former Town Hall was all but forgotten and Derpy seemed to lose less and less letters as time went by. In fact, she had received various compliments following her "speedy and timely" deliveries.

Before the incredible drought, everything had been going perfectly in Ponyville and the catastrophe that was now befalling the city had been totally and absolutely unexpected. The Pegasus couldn't explain it, searching for clouds left and right unsuccessfully; the unicorns' magic was powerless to even explain the phenomena and the Earth Ponies, well, were quite angry, blaming the two other pony types indistinctively.

The ponies were thirsty, angry and close to a total catastrophe. The ponies couldn't water their plants, nor could they give water to their animals and companions; in a week, mere days perhaps, it would be the end of everypony.

Derpy, however, had an idea: there ought to be a pony, there ought to be a person who could – and would – solve all their problem. The Princess Celestia wouldn't let everypony subject die, nor would she stop caring about her loyal subject. Surely Princess Celestia would have the solution, and there was no better person to ask than her friend Twilight Sparkle.

Derpy knocked on Twilight's door early in the morning; she was well used to waking up so early, and trying to travel during the day, where the sun was at its highest, was quite a poor idea given the high temperature. To Derpy's surprise, Twilight opened her door straight away and it was clear she hadn't slept in days.

"I'm drinking ink! Ink has water in it, right Derpy?"

"Uhh, Twilight?" whispered Derpy. "Are you okay?"

"Of course I'm okay! It hasn't rained in weeks and there is a single cloud to be seen on the horizon, but everything is okay! Everything is fine, Derpy!"

Derpy smiled, opening her pouch to give the little water she had left to her friend. Twilight immediately jumped on the pouch to drink; about halfway done, she stopped abruptly.

"Gotta share! Gotta care!" she said as she rushed towards Spike.

"Oh come on Twilight," simply replied Spike. "I'm a dragon, you know? I'm not thirsty."

Spike, overall, was in a happy mood; he could travel freely during the hottest hours of the day, where everypony hid inside with every door closed. "Give some to Owlowiscious," he added.

But the owl shook his head, perhaps understanding that Twilight was his best chance to solve the situation. Twilight finished the water, licking the bottom of the pouch.

"I'm almost starting to miss Discord's chocolate rain," she said. "Even he… Even he has no idea what is going on!"

"Celestia," said Derpy. "You should ask her…"

"Derpy, don't be rude. We can't disturb the princess with…"

At the same princess, Spike briskly received a letter. Twilight immediately picked up using her magic and started to read it aloud.

"Dear Twilight Sparkle,

As you are surely aware by now, the incredible drought that seems to be affecting all of Equestria is stronger than ever and rain shows no sign of coming back. In fact, all water seems to be vanishing.

While I had at first believed it a natural phenomenon was behind evverything, it is now clearer than ever that there is some kind of 'foul and evil' magic behind it. Therefore, I am now sending you, my faithful student, to investigate the situation further while I pursue my researches in the royal library. Please bring back any new development to me personally.

Water, without a doubt, is one of the most important element in all of Equestia and affects every pony, every animal and every plant. Your mission, thus, is of exceptional importance. You might find it relevant to begin your search with the Pegasus in Ponyvill and might want to look into all important literature.

Truly yours,

Princess Celestia."

Twilight gulped heavily: the mission Princess Celestia was giving to her was of capital importance. Slowly, she left the room, not even bothering to wave Derpy goodbye. She knew where to go.


	2. Chapter 2

Celestia had told her to start with the Pegasi and Twilight wasn't going to make an exception. Plus, didn't she have a good friend in charge of the sky?

Rainbow Dash, it turned out, looked rather miserable.

"I'm forced to sleep on rooftops, Twily! Can you believe that?" Rainbow was clearly in a bad mood and visibly exhausted. "I checked – Cloudsdale is still up in the sky at least! I'm thinking of, of going back there!"

Rainbow flew down to her level, face-to-face with Twilight. Walking on the ground was something she generally tried to avoid when she could.

"Rainbow, do you know why there is no rain?" asked Twilight.

"No idea, pal! I can tell you one thing: I checked everywhere. I went as far as my wings would carry me and I haven't even seen the trace of a cloud! If this keeps on, I'll end up like Pinkie!"

"What do you mean, like Pinkie?"

"Well, you know… Right…"

Rainbow rotated her eyes around in a googly, dazing manner and Twilight frowned at her.

"Do you know why there are no clouds?"

"No. I mean, usually, they are just there and we use them for rain… But not today, and not this week, and not this month if this keeps on! Twilight – what if there is no clouds ever again?"

"Don't be silly," replied Twilight. Rainbow was suffering more than she first thought, clearly nervous that her job had simply vanished. She remembered her first meeting with her, when she asked her to get rid of all clouds. The situation was somehow ironic.

"I have to go see Fluttershy," she uttered

Fluttershy was firmly locked inside her house; the sun was already rising and, very soon, the temperature would be hot enough to keep them indoors, at least as far as thirst was concerned. Cautiously, she knocked on the door, not wishing to wake her up if she was asleep.

Fluttershy was moaning and complaining; slowly, Twilight creeped inside.

"This is horrible, Twilight! I have only one little glass of water left for all my friends! Who is going to have it? How am I going to share! I don't even dare to cry because I don't want to waste more water!"

"Flutter, do you know what happened to the water?"

"The river has run dry, Twilight. My friends are so thirsty and I can't help them! I'm a terrible…" A small bunny passed right next to Twilight, visibly exhausted and thirsty. "There Angel, you get the glass… No, half of it… Twilight, how can I even…"

At this point, the bear inside Fluttershy's home rushed towards the glass and, in one quick gulp, drank it.

"No! I… I…" Fluttery didn't dare to add a word, looking at the ground meekly. Other animals were angry. "At least this solves the problem I guess."

Twilight wait for a few seconds, looking around; surely the water had gone somewhere.

"And then there's the food," added Fluttershy, suddenly talking with more ardor. "Plants can't grow without water and, thus, they can't give us fruits or vegetables. It needs to rain, and it needs to rain soon…"

"Applejack," thought Twilight. The idea had not crossed her mind yet: how was she doing with her orchards? Were her apples still fine? Her farm was a major source of food for the city and her apples always delicious "Thank you Fluttershy," she yelled as she ran away – not fast enough, however, to sweat.

"The water must have gone somewhere," she thought to herself. "And if the Pegasus don't know… Maybe Granny Smith has seen something like that before!" Plus, if there were no apples, the ponies faced yet another problem even if it rained: hunger and starvation.

Applejack was working the best she could, picking the few apple left on the trees; many laid on the ground, rotting and desiccated. Several trees, far away, had died and several had lost their colors and, with them, almost all of their apples.

"Oh hai Twilight, so glad you're here!" Applejack had lost only a little of her good mood. "I was gonna ask darling," she added. "If you could bring out some magic for rain, that would be great. I mean if I could choose a moment for rain, now would be pretty sweet!"

"I can't control rain, Applejack!" exclaimed Twilight Sparkle. "It's not… There is no magic for it, I can't make water simply appear. I would have to take it from somewhere and, right now, there is no water anywhere!"

"Aw shoot. Well t'was worth a try. Thanks anyway" Applejack bite into one of the apples. "There's something to drink in'em if that helps. Why don' you bring a few to town?" Slowly, she chewed, drinking the precious apple juice.

"So you don't know why it isn't raining? I thought Granny Smith could have an idea," said Twilight, panicking.

"Aw rain," said Granny Smith, appearing through the door. "I member a drought when I was young, but not'ing as bad as this. Rain, rain, without it, life can't exist, can it?" Granny Smith stayed in the trance, behind her, Twilight could catch sight of a few jars of jams, of which the water content was now far more important that the taste.

"So you don't know?" Slowly, Granny Smith shook her head. Twilight dropped her eyes to the ground: three of her friends were suffering deeply from the catastrophe and she was powerless to help them. All of a sudden, she felt depressed, about to give up.

"Sugar cube, I been thinking…" went on Applejack. "You know when the sprites came? Well, I been thinking, maybe Pinkie Pie has an idea. She always seems to know that kind of stuff."

Twilight smiled once again: of course Pinkie Pie would know. She should have picked the idea right away, as soon as Rainbow Dash has mentioned it. Quickly, she dashed towards her house. If one person could save Ponyville – if not Equestria – it was certainly her.


End file.
